NFL Week 13 review: Jimmy Garoppolo's 4 TD passes help 49ers top Saints
NEW ORLEANS —Jimmy Garoppolo passed for 349 yards and four touchdowns, Robbie Gould kicked a 30-yard field goal as time expired, and the San Francisco 49ers pulled out a 48-46 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
Garoppolo’s clutch completion to tight end George Kittle for a 39-yard gain — plus a defensive facemask penalty — on fourth-and-2 from the San Francisco 33 helped set up Gould’s winning kick.
The best tight end in football putting the team on his back. George Kittle setting the #49ers up for the game-winner.
(?: @NFL)pic.twitter.com/e8H9iKK5dR— Rob Lowder (@Rob_Lowder) December 8, 2019
The Saints took their last lead on Drew Brees’ fifth touchdown pass of the game — an 18-yarder to Tre’Quan Smith with 53 seconds left. But Brees’ pass on an attempted 2-point conversion fell incomplete, leaving New Orleans’ lead at one point.
The victory kept San Francisco (11-2) in strong position to capture the top seed in the NFC playoffs. The Niners can clinch a playoff berth if Seattle loses to the Rams in a night game.
Robbie Gould. Game over! ?
— Sports ON Tap (@SONTHighlights) December 8, 2019
Niners receiver Emmanuel Sanders had a 75-yard touchdown and added his second-career touchdown pass after taking a handoff on a reverse.
Two of Garoppolo’s touchdown passes went to Kendrick Bourne. Kittle also had a touchdown catch. Sanders finished with seven catches for 157 yards.
Brees finished 29 of 40 for 349 yards and also dived across the goal line for a touchdown. Michael Thomas caught 11 passes for 134 yards and a score, but the Saints, 10-3 and already the NFC South champions, were done in by a few critical failures.
Kamara’s fumble, recovered by DeForest Buckner on the New Orleans 20, set up Garoppolo’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Kittle in the third quarter.
Another Saints risk backfired at the end of the third quarter when Taysom Hill’s long pass on a fake punt fell incomplete. Smith, the intended receiver, was being physically impeded as he tried to make the catch. But officials noted that pass interference could not be called on a pass made out of apparent punt formation.
The 49ers took over on their 45 and parlayed the turnover on downs into a 14-play touchdown drive that ate up seven minutes, ending with Bourne’s second score on a 6-yard catch.
Brees had forecast that the Saints would have a plan to handle the Niners’ vaunted defensive line. They backed it up early with TD drives on New Orleans first four possessions. The first two ended with scoring passes of 38 and 26 yards to Cook. But on Cook’s second TD, he was knocked out of the game on a hard hit to the head from cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon.
The Saints elected to take the penalty immediately rather than on the kickoff and move the ball to the 1-yard line for a 2-point try that failed.
The 49ers kept pace and ultimately took a narrow lead with touchdowns on four of their first five possessions. During that stretch, Sanders had a 75-yard TD reception in which he and safety Marcus Williams both fell before Sanders got up and withstood safety Vonn Bell’s strip attempt on his way into the end zone.
Niners scoring TDs off of trick plays ?
Game is wild so far.
(via @49ers)pic.twitter.com/h4mC95OmxK
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 8, 2019
Later in the second quarter, Sanders completed his 35-yard scoring pass, locating wide-open running back Raheem Mostert down the right side. It was Sanders’ second career TD pass. He had a 28-yarder with Denver last season.
San Francisco led 28-27 at halftime after Mostert’s 10-yard run.
Falcons 40, Panthers 20
ATLANTA — Matt Ryan threw the longest touchdown pass of his career and became the 10th quarterback in NFL history to reach 50,000 yards, leading the Atlanta Falcons to another dominating win over Carolina, 40-20 Sunday.
The Panthers (5-8) were officially eliminated from playoff contention with their fifth straight loss, which ruined the debut of interim coach Perry Fewell. He took over at the beginning of the week after longtime coach Ron Rivera was fired.
Atlanta (4-9) snapped a two-game losing streak and swept the season series with their I-85 rival. The Falcons won the first meeting 29-3 at Charlotte on Nov. 17.
Throwing from his own end zone, Ryan finished off the Panthers with a 93-yard touchdown pass to little-used Olamide Zaccheaus in the third quarter. It was a milestone play for both — the longest TD of Ryan’s 12-year career, and the first career reception for Zaccheaus, an undrafted rookie.
Fewell and the Panthers endured a thoroughly miserable game. Kyle Allen was picked off twice and lost a fumble. Carolina fumbled another one away on a kickoff return, the ball deflecting into the arms of kicker Younghoe Koo, setting off a wild celebration as Koo bounced toward the sideline.
Koo also booted four field goals, including a 35-yard field goal on the final play of the first half put the Falcons ahead to stay at 13-10. The home team thoroughly dominated the final two quarters, outscoring Carolina 27-10 while piling up a season high for points.
Buccaneers 38, Colts 35
TAMPA, Fla. — Jameis Winston threw for 456 yards and four touchdowns, helping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rally to beat the reeling Indianapolis Colts 38-35 on Sunday.
Winston overcame throwing three more interceptions and having one returned for a TD for the fifth time season to wipe out a 14-point , second-half deficit. He led the Bucs (6-7) to their third straight win and fourth in five games.
The Colts (6-7) have dropped five of six following a 5-2 start, falling from first place to third in the AFC South.
Winston threw for TDs of 61 yards to Mike Evans, 3 yards to Cameron Brate and 17 yards to Justin Watson before putting the Bucs ahead for good with a 12-yarder to Breshad Perriman with 3:51 remaining.
Jacoby Brissett completed 19 of 36 passes for 251 yards, two TDs and no interceptions for Indianapolis. Darius Leonard returned one of his two interceptions 80 yards for a second-quarter TD, and Marcus Johnson had a 46-yard scoring reception and finished with 105 yards on three catches for the Colts.
Chase McLaughlin, signed last week to fill in for injured kicker Adam Vinatieri, made field goals of 50 and 19 yards but a 47-yarder that would have given the Colts a 38-31 lead hit the right upright and bounced away midway through the fourth quarter.
Winston began the day ranked second in the NFL in passing yardage, but has thrown a league-leading 23 interceptions and turned the ball over 28 times overall.
Packers 20, Washington 15
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Jones rushed for a season-high 134 yards and a touchdown on just 16 carries, Aaron Rodgers threw for 195 yards and the Green Bay Packers did enough to beat the Washington Redskins 20-15 Sunday.
Jones had his third 100-yard rushing game of the season and hauled in six catches for 58 yards. With fewer than 3 minutes left in the game, the third-year running back had more total yards (192) than the Redskins (187).
Dwayne Haskins completed 16 of 27 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown with an interception for Washington (3-10), which was officially eliminated from playoff contention. The rookie quarterback was sacked four times.
Adrian Peterson became just the sixth back in NFL history to reach the 14,000-yard mark, running for 76 yards and a score. He now has 14,036 yards in a 13-year career. Curtis Martin is fifth all-time with 14,101 yards.
Derrius Guice exited after only five carries with a knee injury.
Kenny Clark and Kyler Fackrell combined for a sack of Haskins on Washington’s opening drive for an 11-yard loss. Haskins and the Redskins started the day with three straight 3-and-outs in the franchise’s first-ever December trip to Lambeau Field.
Broncos 38, Texans 24
HOUSTON — Rookie Drew Lock threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns, Kareem Jackson had an interception and returned a fumble 70 yards for a touchdown against his former team as the Denver Broncos built a huge first-half lead and coasted 38-24 over the Houston Texans on Sunday.
Lock, who made his NFL debut in a win over the Chargers last week, threw for 235 yards with three TDs in the first half. It was the most yards passing in a first half by the Broncos since Peyton Manning had 282 in Week 5 of 2014.
The Broncos (5-8) scored on their first five possessions to build 38-3 lead early in the third quarter. They scored more than 24 points for the first time since Oct. 19, 2018.
Houston’s hold on the AFC South took a hit as the Texans (8-5) came out flat in a terrible first half a week after downing the Patriots 28-22 for their first win in the series since 2010. The Texans are one-half game ahead of the Titans (7-5), who play in Oakland later Sunday.
Deshaun Watson threw for 292 yards with one TD pass and two interceptions after throwing three touchdown passes and grabbing his first career TD reception in a stellar performance against New England.
The Broncos took an early lead when Lock threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Noah Fant with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the first quarter. Fant, who finished with 113 yards receiving, had a 48-yard reception earlier in that drive.
Jets 22, Dolphins 21
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Sam Ficken kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired to give the New York Jets a 22-21 comeback victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Sam Darnold got the winning drive going with a short pass to Vyncint Smith, who turned it into a 37-yard gain that included a high-step over a would-be tackler. After a sack two plays later put the ball at the Dolphins 46, Darnold threw an incomplete pass to Smith — but the Jets argued that Nik Needham interfered with the receiver by wrapping his right arm around Smith’s right shoulder.
Officials overturned the call after a video review — giving the Jets a first down and new life. A 12-yard catch by Ty Montgomery got the ball to the 26. Two plays later, Ficken won it, helping the Jets (5-8) avoid a season sweep by the lowly Dolphins (3-10).
Miami coach Brian Flores appeared incensed as the game ended, upset by the officials’ reversal.
Darnold, who injured his right hand at the beginning of the fourth quarter, was off on a few of his late passes but finished 20 of 36 for 270 yards and touchdowns to Demaryius Thomas and Robby Anderson. Darnold also was intercepted once.
Vikings 20, Lions 7
MINNEAPOLIS — Danielle Hunter had three of Minnesota’s five sacks to spearhead a resurgence by the defense, and the Vikings sailed past Detroit 20-7 on Sunday to stick the Lions with their sixth straight loss.
Kirk Cousins passed for 242 yards and a touchdown in an efficient if unspectacular performance, and Dalvin Cook had 75 yards from scrimmage and a rushing score on 20 touches over three quarters as the Vikings (9-4) took it easy on their star tailback after an injury to his collarbone area forced him out of the previous game.
The defense stole the show, even though the opponent was undrafted rookie quarterback David Blough. Detroit’s Matthew Stafford was sidelined by hip and back injuries for the fifth straight game.
Blough went 24 for 40 for 205 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in the second half, and the Vikings yielded their lowest score in 31 regular-season games since a 16-0 win at Green Bay on Dec. 23, 2017. The Lions entered the week averaging 5.8 yards per play, the fourth-best in the NFL, but the Vikings held them to 3.2 yards per play.
For the first time this season, the Lions (3-9-1) never held a lead. They entered the game with 92 first-quarter points, the most in the NFC, but they netted only 70 total yards on 32 plays in the first half and trailed 20-0 until Kenny Golladay’s 10-yard reception in the end zone with 2:09 left. That catch pushed the third-year wide receiver past the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight season.
The Lions fell to 9-19-1 under coach Matt Patricia, including 2-5 against NFC North foes.
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